College sports

From the moment she set foot on the volleyball court for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Lexi Rodriguez has been a fixture at libero. The Sterling native has played in every set since her first match as a rookie in 2021, and has led the team in digs all four of her seasons in Lincoln.

A full offseason with extra time spent in the gym – and without injury rehab – has led to a scintillating start to the season for Kylie Feuerbach.

NIU's first road game of the season featured a matchup of former Sycamore stars, Iowa fifth-year senior Kylie Feuerbach and NIU freshman Lexi Carlsen. Feuerbach scored a career-high 14 points in Hawkeyes' 91-73 win.

With the lead dwindling and Sauk Valley looking for somebody to make a play to stop an Indian Hills run, Dixon native Jake Gaither came up big. The sophomore beat the shot clock with a putback with 1:05 to play, and the Skyhawks held on for an 86-78 victory.

After missing last season with a torn ACL in her right knee, former Sycamore standout Kylie Feuerbach is back on the court with the Iowa Hawkeyes as they try to make it back to the Final Four after last season's magical run.

A slow start was just too much for the Sauk Valley Community College women’s basketball team to overcome Tuesday night. The Skyhawks found themselves trailing Rock Valley by double digits less than five minutes into the game, and they never recovered in a 72-44 loss at home.

Morrison senior forward Shelby Veltrop was named to a pair of all-state teams last week, as she was an honorable mention selection by the Associated Press, and a second-team pick by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.

The Sauk Valley Skyhawks fell behind Indian Hills in the first minute of Monday night’s game at Sauk Valley Community College. Although they picked up their intensity in the second half, they trailed the NJCAA's sixth-ranked team for the duration of the game in an 81-61 loss.

The Sauk Valley volleyball team rolled to a 25-15, 25-15, 25-18 win over Black Hawk in an Arrowhead Conference match in its home opener on Wednesday night. Also, the Rock Falls boys and Oregon boys and girls golf teams picked up tight BNC wins on the course.

Rock Falls native Jakob Junis got a no-decision in a stellar start for the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday, pitching seven innings of one-run ball before Brandon Crawford hit a walk-off home run to give the Giants a 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The NCAA transfer portal has made finding new schools easier for college athletes, but the portal, along with the one-time exception that makes athletes immediately eligible, has drastically changed the landscape of high school recruiting.

The Big Ten has voted to add Southern California and UCLA as conference members beginning in 2024.

Preston Engel and his father, Corey, are teammates and doubles partners for the Sauk Valley Community College men's tennis team this season.

The Sauk Valley men’s tennis team won four matches decisively and picked up five forfeit wins on its way to a 9-0 season-opening win against Milwaukee Area Technical College on Saturday afternoon at Westwood Indoor Tennis Center.

The Sauk Valley Community College men's basketball team defeated Malcolm X 62-50 in a Region IV quarterfinal Thursday night in Dixon.

The Sauk Valley women’s basketball team struggled to separate from Illinois Valley in the first quarter of its Thursday night home game, but the Skyhawks heated up in the second on their way to a 77-43 Arrowhead Conference win.

Now in his second season at North Dakota State University, Austin Marsden takes part in practices daily with his athletes and works one-on-one each Wednesday.